How Often Should I Intermittent Fast?

Intermittent fasting differs from basically every other diet out there in that it’s all about when you eat, not what you eat. In fact, intermittent fasting isn’t really a diet at all. You don’t have to reduce or eliminate certain foods, all you have to do is commit to a pattern of eating. If you’re new to the idea of intermittent fasting, you probably have a lot of questions about timing. Once you’ve found the right intermittent fasting schedule for you, you might begin to wonder how often should I intermittent fast, period.

How Often Should I Intermittent Fast? It Depends…

The answer to the question how often should I intermittent fast might frustrate you, or it might feel freeing: it depends. If you’re just starting out with intermittent fasting, implement the fasting schedule you picked every other week, or even every three weeks. Give your body time to adapt to this new approach to eating. To maximize the benefits of intermittent fasting, however, especially its ability to rev up your body’s fat burning capacity, you’ll probably want to implement a regular, weekly fasting schedule. That might mean establishing daily fasting and feasting windows, drastically reducing your caloric intake on certain days of the week, or even going full days without eating.

The most important thing is to pay attention to how your body is responding to your fasting schedule and be open to shifting things around as needed.

Intermittent Fasting: Keep It Flexible

Although intermittent fasting can initially feel daunting, this eating approach has so much flexibility built into it! Fitness blogger Theo Brenner-Roach believes that flexibility is actually the number one benefit of intermittent fasting.

Here are five examples of how flexible intermittent fasting can be in comparison to diets and other eating plans.

Is it possible to fast too often? Not really! As long as you’re feeling healthy, you’re following an appropriate intermittent fasting schedule, and you’re consuming enough calories during your feasting windows, you can fast as often as you’d like.

Once you’ve found your personal answer to the question of how often you should intermittent fast you can refine other elements of your approach. To experience the benefits of intermittent fasting to the fullest extent, you’ll want to consider the optimal foods to eat, look for recipes that taste delicious and help you hit your calorie goals, and figure out how to time your workouts. Our workbook, designed specifically for intermittent fasting beginners, can help you address these key intermittent fasting concerns and get the most out of this eating approach.